+ NERD DATES — Regular and nerdy holidays, including over one hundred important holy days for geeks, including: Major movie releases like Iron Man, Speed Racer, The Dark Knight, Indiana Jones 4, Harold and Kumar 2, and The Incredible Hulk; conventions like San Diego Comic-Con, Alternative Press Expo, etc. ; anniversaries for Night of the Living Dead and more cult classics; birthdays for Stan Lee, Quentin Tarantino, Jean Luc Picard and others ; even Sarah Connor’s assassination, the morning Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 departed, and the day Marty was sent back to the future.”

It’s distressing that the character who originated as a role model for girls (regardless of the problematic ideology of her creator) and was later adopted as a symbol of female empowerment has again been co-opted, not as a figure of women’s sexual empowerment, but as an image of male fantasy. (Then again, I suppose she has also always been this as well.)

But it’s almost like a sexist slap in the feminist face. Gloria Steinem was one of the champions of the Amazon Princess in the 1970s. In the 1960s she wrote her famous undercover expose of Playboy Clubs, “I Was a Playboy Bunny.” So in this we meet a moment of cultural irony.

I’ll bet the editors of Playboy thought they were merely being playful.* Wonder Woman is after all a recognizable symbol of a powerful woman.

I can’t say I’m happy about it, especially the comparison of this model/actress to Lynda Carter, but I can’t help but wonder what the response would be if this were a spread on Suicide Girls (Minimal pun intended).

*At least it’s not as insidious as the panel in the “Women’s Lib” issue of Wonder Woman where the writers actually had Diana say, “In most cases I don’t even like women . . .” Likely a childish message from the writers of Wonder Woman to the editors of Ms. for interfering with their work.

The original 70 minute pilot was condensed—although not in any noticeable way—and I believe the scene with Sarah and her fiancé was an addition (does anyone know, was that character recast?). Regardless, the scene between them was a few appreciated moments that showed Sarah had the capacity to care for someone other than John, even if his survival ultimately takes precedence.

What really struck me upon this second viewing was the minor details—and I think they stuck out because a friend and I re-watched T2 last night to prepare for the premiere.

Thoughts

– It’s truly an evolved Sarah. She’s still the resilient, quick-thinking, focused and resourceful warrior of Judgment Day, but she’s trying to also be “Mother.” She’s damaged, haunted by nightmares, but does little things that attempt to make life normal– painting the walls (in which she’s hidden weapons, of course), and making pancakes (before going on the run again).

– When Sarah, Cameron and John visit the Dyson residence to ask if anyone else knew about Cyberdyne or had access to Miles’ work, Mrs. Dyson tells Sarah, “No. You destroyed it. You destroyed everything.”

This confrontation mirrors the scene in T2 where Sarah rants to Miles:

“Fucking men like you built the hydrogen bomb. Men like you thought it up. You think you’re so creative. You don’t know what it’s like to really create something; to create a life; to feel it growing inside you. All you know how to create is death and destruction.”

Like the name, Cameron, it’s an homage to the films of her namesake, which are themselves filled with parallels. In Aliens, it was the alien Queen and Ripley, in Terminator it was Sarah and the Terminator. In that movie, the machine, as played by Schwarzenegger, learns to be more human, while Sarah becomes ever more like the single-minded Terminator. Dyson’s remark reminds Sarah of this, and that she must struggle to reconcile what she almost became, with that which she must do. Hence, little touches like pancakes.

– Another parallel: Sarah confides in Cameron, as John had done with the T-800. She says to the machine, the one that will always listen, “We can’t keep running . . . I’ll lose my boy . . . He’ll leave me.” It’s an interesting twist. Where John adopted the T-800 as a father figure (and like the Velveteen Rabbit made him more real through his love)Sarah needs a friend–It’s probably been a long time since she had one.

– Finally, I wonder if Cameron has knowledge of the “present.” Just a thought I had when she told John and Sarah to stay away from the vault door. John asks “Why?” and when the door quakes Cameron says “That’s why.” And she said it not as if she knew the Terminator had followed her there, but like she had prescience.

Perhaps we’ll find out tonight when the second part of the premiere takes place (at 9:00 on Fox).

Covers: UDON STUDIOS (50%) and FABIANO NEVES (50%)Writer: JOHN LAYMANPenciller/Inker: MIGUEL MONTENEGROColorist: TBD Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Action/AdventureAwards: N/APublication Date: MARCH, 2008Format: Comic Book Rights: WWThe cross-over no one asked for — or expected — is finally here! Too big for the movie of television screen, Dynamite presents the ultimate “Why Not? tale as Ash and Army of Darkness meets Xena, the Warrior Princess in the first issue of this 4-part mini series event!Written by master … uh, scribe, John Layman and illustrated by Miguel Montenegro, the first issue of our most unnecessary adventure finds Ashley J. Williams transported to the world of Xena and Gabrielle and most importantly Autolycus, who of course, bears more than a passing resemblance to our main man Ash. Throw in the Necornomicon and an evil little ash taking charge of a group of fairies (the winged kind) and hey, you’ve got yourselves a story! Featuring two covers, one by UDON studios and the other by Fabiano Neves!

Though the ability to heal,spontaneously regenerate even, IS Claire’s power, I’m disturbed that she’s advertised as coming with a “wounded head” and “wounded arm.” That there are people who want the option of posing a woman with gashes is almost as nauseating as a company that would supply them with that option.

I hope that the painting she comes with is the one of her walking through flames

rather than either of the ones that portend her death.

The questions are, is this enough to keep me from purchasing the Claire figure to proudly display in my office next to Scully, Dr. Crusher, Guinan, Turanga Leila, Buffy, Willow and Anya? If I discard the wounded limbs, does my purchase still support the fact that they were offered in the first place? And finally, do I think about things too much?!?